


Deja Vu

by miss_aligned



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Mass Effect 3, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 06:16:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6692854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_aligned/pseuds/miss_aligned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shepard isn't quite as invincible as everyone believes. Her past experiences come back to haunt her at the most inopportune times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deja Vu

“Let’s make it quick. In, out, and cut Cerberus off from their supplies before they can react,” Shepard said as they made their final approach. In a few moments, they were going to be dropped in a cold and dangerous environment, and it was best to go over the plan one last time while communication was still clear.

Garrus nodded at her words and shoved a sniper rifle into her hands before slinging his own across his back. A curious eyebrow lifted as she looked it over. A mischievous smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Has this been calibrated?”

“Very funny,” he coolly responded. “And yes.”

She and Garrus locked their helmets in place. Tali was always ready for challenging conditions, after all. They touched down and hit the ground at a full sprint, moving quickly across the frozen landscape toward their chosen entrance point. It was little more than a bunker, but their sources had identified this place as a valuable stash of supplies and weapons that Cerberus happened to guard closely.

Shepard quickly pulled the sniper rifle off of her back once she found a good vantage point, then checked that Garrus had done the same. Tali, meanwhile, pushed forward, aiming to tap into the security for the bunker and override the controls before the agents of Cerberus fully realized what was happening.

A series of quick shots later, the cameras and turrets near the trio were disabled. Garrus and Shepard shifted their sights and waited, knowing that a stray enemy or two were likely to appear as Tali set about her work.

“This is strange encryption… unless the cold is interfering with my equipment,” Tali said as she diligently typed and made adjustments.

“Just do what you have to do,” Shepard responded. “We’ve got you covered.” A shot rang out and a body hit the ground.

Tali continued her digital assault as would-be opponents dropped nearby, as quickly as they had appeared. It wasn’t until a steady, weighted pounding could be felt beneath her feet that Shepard pulled her attention away from her scope and cast Garrus a knowing look.

“Cover me,” she said as she stowed the rifle and pulled out her trusty SMG. She’d fought with Cerberus enough times to recognize the signs that an Atlas was on its way. Though Tali had managed to keep any obvious alarms from sounding, the more time that passed meant that more of the enemy soldiers would be aware of their presence. They were quickly losing the element of surprise, their one advantage in enemy territory.

Shepard intended to intercept the Atlas well before it found Tali. She slid in behind a shield that had been erected in front of one of the turrets and began blasting it before its pilot had realized from where the barrage was coming. Behind her, over the racket of her own gun, she could hear Garrus over her comm, calling out each shot as he took it.

“Tali?” Shepard called, quickly replacing a clip with fluid motions.

“Almost there, just one more—“ the quarian answered before being cut off with an odd yelp. In the briefest of moments where Shepard had ducked to replenish her ammunition, the pilot of the Atlas had taken aim for Tali.

Anger boiled deeply in the pit of Shepard’s stomach as she darted out from her shield and slid into plain view to get a better shot. “Garrus! A little help!”

“I’m doing the best I can, here, Shepard,” came his calm reply.

She knew that, of course, but that didn’t help to quell the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She unloaded on the Atlas, hoping that she could break through that infernal visor and catch the pilot within. One good thing about being in this horrendous locale, she realized, was that it would only take a crack, a tiny exposure, to effectively kill the man inside the mechanical suit.

“I think I’ve got it,” Tali exclaimed as Shepard checked her gun to see if it was ready to overheat.

“Shepard, your six!” Garrus called, the usual composed nature of his voice unraveling as seconds passed.

She whirled around, ducking low to keep out of the crosshairs of the Atlas. She managed to take out one Cerberus soldier in a quick spray of bullets, but two more were approaching. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Tali pulling a pistol and begin firing from around the control box as she turned to assess the Atlas again. It lumbered toward her, seemingly intent on crushing her before breaking down completely due to the damage she’d already dealt.

She managed to roll out of the way, but the unfortunate rattling click emanating from her gun reminded her of just how many shots she’d taken. She was so close to the breaking point with that Atlas, she was tempted to simply beat the thing with her empty SMG until it exploded.

Garrus and Tali continued firing while Shepard pulled her pistol and moved in for another assault on the Atlas before it got too close to her quarian comrade, because then she would be really mad. It took a mere two more pistol fires to penetrate the Atlas at last, sending its pilot into a panic, pounding buttons and flipping switches inside.

Instinctively, the commander scrambled to get out of the way, but her boots slipped on the frozen ground. There was no doubt that a moment’s hesitation could have meant the difference between life and death, so she made the attempt to gain her traction and move with the help of her arms where her legs were failing.

“Shepard, move!” Garrus was already on his way over to her. She could hear it in the subtle waver of his voice with each step.

She didn’t have the chance to reply, as the explosion swallowed any thoughts or words she might have offered. She was thrown violently forward, sending her crashing into a large crate and knocking her out cold for just a moment.

When Shepard opened her eyes, she was staring skyward with loud beeping and alarms screaming in her ears. As she tried to regain her focus, she could hear Garrus and Tali yelling for her, gunshots still ringing through the air. Other voices came to life over her comm as well, but there was too much overwhelming noise reverberating inside her helmet to make any sense of it.

In that moment, she was transported back to one of the most terrifying moments of her life, or, more accurately, her death. She was spinning through the emptiness of space as those same alarms rang in her ears, signaling the failure of her suit. Irreparable damage. Seals broken. Oxygen depleting. The unimaginable cold of outer space stabbed her in the gut as she grasped in vain at the back of her suit to try and hold it together or contain the oxygen or… something…

Shepard lay prone on the ground, unable to respond and immersed fully in the bowels of her own personal hell. Her suit was failing and the frigid air was probing at her back, pulling precious oxygen away. Try as she might to maintain her sanity that all too familiar incomplete breath that set her lungs on fire sent her into a full panic.

It wasn’t a scream, as she couldn’t muster the breath do so. The noises that escaped her were more akin to an agonized wail or terrified whimper. She groped for her neck, the same way she had when the Normandy had been destroyed, completely unaware that her teammates were at her side and trying to help her.

Tali loomed over her first, but Shepard’s wide eyes did not register her friend’s presence. She could feel herself being rolled to her side, and she continued flailing, trying to stop the air hemorrhaging from her suit and the cold from stealing her life away. Again.

“Garrus, hold her!” Tali said. That wasn’t something that Shepard remembered from last time. No one had known exactly where she was, let alone called out to her.

All the voices she could hear through the din of the alarms seemed so strange and far away as Shepard spiraled in the confines of her own mind. Cortez. He was on the move. EDI. She was noting irregular vital signs. Joker. There was no mirth in his commentary. Kaidan. He was angry. No, scared. No… raging. Tone registered more than the words they said, but all of it barely touched the ailing woman squirming and writhing on the ground, fighting off the friends who were trying to help her and patch her suit.

She instinctively reached for her weapons, but Garrus had already pulled them out of reach. Her heart was thundering behind her aching ribs, and tears spilled from her eyes as Shepard’s burning lungs failed her. The galaxy began to grow dark at the edges of her vision, an all too familiar and terrifying experience.

Reality came in waves and flashes, mere pieces to a greater chaotic puzzle. Garrus scooping her up while a familiar defense drone whirled overhead. Tali pulling her helmet off as soon as there was enough ambient oxygen to do so. A small light shining in her eyes as they were roughly pried open by a gloved hand. Being hoisted up and hauled onto the Normandy’s shuttle deck and hearing the pounding of many feet coming closer. Kaidan furiously unlocking and tossing pieces of her armor aside. He looked pale.

As her awareness returned, a dull ache in her head reminded Shepard that she was, in fact, alive. She was having trouble recounting the events that led to her feeling so awful, but she assumed that it was going to be quite the story. Ever so slowly, she realized someone was playing with her hair.

“Welcome back,” Kaidan said running his hand down her arm to take hold of her hand.

She blinked slowly, trying to clear her head. She was so tired. “Sedatives?”

“Ahh. Yeah. It was necessary. You gave us all quite the scare,”

“That wasn’t just a bad dream, then. It felt so real… again,” she said as she struggled to keep her eyes open and piece the situation together. “I’m sorry.”

“No one blames you for anything. I don’t think you could help what happened. I think Garrus would prefer that you take fewer swings at him next time, but that’s really more of a request than a demand,” Kaidan said as a devilish grin subtly curled the edges of his mouth.

Shepard started to chuckle, but doing so made her lungs and head hurt.

“Shh. Take it easy.” He planted a kiss on her forehead. “Everything is taken care of, so just get some rest. I mean, you don’t have much of a choice, since you’re still on sedatives. We’ve taken the bunker. Everyone came back in one piece. Your job now is to feel better.”

“Is that an order, Major?” Her response was half-spoken and half-yawned.

“Yes. I vaguely recall that it does, in fact, work.” He flashed her a knowing smile and kissed her hand before leaving her to the quiet of the medical bay.

She watched him walk away, as she usually did, and while it certainly could have been the sedatives coursing through her system, she thought she heard a heavy but relieved sigh as her eyelids finally fluttered closed.


End file.
